Monday, May 27, 2013

So, full disclosure, I am not a huge fan of Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir project. It is just not my thing. But if it is your thing, Virtual Choir 4.0 is in the works, so if you would like to sing in it, check out the website, download the score, and go nuts!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

I'm happy to say that Cantilena's "Poetic License" concert on Sunday went splendidly. The premiere of Scott Wheeler's "Jabberwocky" went particularly well - we kept a zippy tempo and high energy all the way through! There's a chance I'll be able to share a video later on, but I'm not sure yet. And I got lots of happy feedback after the concert, so I think everyone enjoyed it quite a lot.

And we got this review from the Boston Musical Intelligencer! (My favorite quote is that on the first piece, "Cantilena surprised with a burst of volume filling the sanctuary." I worked very hard on getting them as loud as possible at the end of Gwyneth Walker's Now I Become Myself - glad to see it paid off!)

Monday, May 13, 2013

This is a great TED talk about body language, projecting power, and how your body language can shape your thoughts and emotions and even who you are, not just the other way around. Great reading for everyone, but obviously very relevant for conductors!

Friday, May 10, 2013

I hope you don't have any important plans for this coming weekend, because it is going to be a GREAT concert weekend!

Being the second weekend in May, of course there are a billion choral concerts. But the one I want to call to your attention is, of course, my own! Cantilena will be performing their spring concert, called "Poetic License." This performance is in honor of Mordena Babich, a member of our alto section who passed away last spring. She was a writer, so in her honor we have chosen musical settings of all the best poets. Jane Kenyon, E. E. Cummings, Yeats, Shakespeare, and others will all be represented. And we will be performing the world premiere of a commission by Scott Wheeler, his setting of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" for two cellos and women's chorus. It's a very exciting program and I hope you can come! For more about our commission, check out the interview I did with Scott Wheeler.

If that is not enough choral music for you, I also feel that I owe a nod to Musica Sacra, who always has the most interesting programming, and this weekend is no exception. This year is the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address, and Musica Sacra will be celebrating these events. To quote from their press release, "In this Saturday's concert, music from and about the Civil War period will be interspersed with readings of texts by Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, performed by drama students from Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School."

I greatly enjoyed Musica Sacra's March concert, "Baltic Inspirations," where they explored some stunning Northern European music that had a truly head-spinning quantity and variety of languages. (And I felt a little guilty for not reviewing it on the blog!) So go check out Musica Sacra for a very patriotic Saturday...and then come see Cantilena for a poetic and inspired Mother's Day!

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

I just wanted to post a follow-up to my post about the Walk for Music. April 28 was the most beautiful possible spring day in downtown Boston - everything was blooming and flowering, and the sun was out in a clear blue sky, and it was absolutely beautiful. We had more Cantilena walkers than in any previous year, and it was altogether a delightful afternoon!

And I'm happy to say I beat my goal, which was $250, and raised over $300! Thanks to the following people for helping me out with that goal:

Monday, May 06, 2013

I haven't done any "Monday link" entries in a while, but this one should make up for it!

Check out this video of an interview I did with Scott Wheeler about the piece we commissioned him to write for Cantilena. He set Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky." It is awesome, and we will be premiering it in 6 days (on Mother's Day, this coming Sunday!) at 7 pm at First Parish Arlington. If you have never been to a Cantilena concert, now would be the time!

About Me

My name is Allegra Martin, and I am a Boston-area choral conductor and singer. My jobs include: music director of Cantilena, a women's chorale in Arlington; choral conductor at Lasell College and director of the Lasell Village Voices of Experience; and music director of First Parish Cohasset. I sing in the area with Anthology, Schola Cantorum, and anyone who will hire me! I also teach private lessons in sight-reading, theory, and conducting.